(a) As used in this article: (i) "A charter school within a school" means a charter school operating within a facility or portion of a facility currently operated by the district as a public school or operated as an adjunct to a public school or schools with students attending both the charter school and the public school; (ii) "A converted charter school" means a charter school converted from an existing public school operating within the district; (iii) "District board" means the board of trustees of a school district elected as the governing body of the school district; (iv) "New charter school" or "charter school" means a public school established and operating under the terms of a charter contract between the charter school's board and its authorizer; (v) "School district" means each school district now or hereafter legally organized as a body corporate pursuant to W.S. 21-3-101, et seq.; (vi) "State board" means the state board of education appointed pursuant to W.S. 21-2-301. (vii) "Authorizer" means a school district board or the Wyoming charter school authorizing board as created by W.S. 21-3-302.2(a); (viii) "Charter" or "charter contract" means the charter contract executed between a charter school and an authorizer; (ix) "Charter application" means the application submitted by a proposed charter school to an authorizer for the creation of a charter school; (x) "Department" means the Wyoming department of education; (xi) "Education service provider" means a for-profit or nonprofit education management organization, charter management organization, or any other partner entity that a charter school contracts with for educational program implementation or for comprehensive management; (xii) "Full-time virtual charter school" means a charter school that offers educational services primarily or completely through an online program; (xiii) "Governing board" means the independent board of a charter school that is a party to a charter contract with the authorizer, whose members have been selected pursuant to the charter application and who are subject to the Ethics and Disclosure Act, W.S. 9-13-101 through 9-13-109. 21-3-302.1. Charter school authorizers; powers and duties. (a) Authorizers shall: (i) Review charter school applications made to the authorizer and make a written determination on the application; (ii) Monitor charter schools approved by the authorizer; (iii) Make decisions on the renewal, nonrenewal and revocation of charters granted by the authorizer; (iv) Establish and maintain policies and practices consistent with the principles and professional standards for authorizers of charter schools related to all of the following: (A) Requirements for organizational capacity and infrastructure of the charter school; (B) Soliciting and evaluating charter applications; (C) Ongoing charter school oversight and evaluation; (D) Charter application approval, renewal and revocation decision making. (v) In determining whether to approve a charter application, the authorizer shall: (A) Grant charters to applicants that possess competence in the elements of the charter application requirements identified in this article; (B) Base decisions on documented evidence collected through the charter application review process. (vi) Act as the local education agency for charter schools authorized to operate under this article to apply for, receive or administer grants through a grant program created by a federal or state statute or program which requires local education agency status. (b) Funding for authorizers shall consist of administrative fees collected from the charter school. Fees shall not exceed three percent (3%) of the charter school's annual state funding. Authorizers shall restrict the expenditure of funds received under this subsection for the purpose of fulfilling duties under this article and shall annually publish and submit to the state superintendent of public instruction a report detailing expenditure of funds. (c) Repealed by Laws 2023, ch. 179, § 3. 21-3-302.2. Wyoming charter school authorizing board; number of charter schools that may be authorized. (a) There is created the Wyoming charter school authorizing board. The mission of the board is to authorize high quality public charter schools. (b) The Wyoming charter school authorizing board shall consist of the following eight (8) members: (i) Three (3) members appointed by the superintendent of public instruction. Each member appointed under this paragraph shall have at minimum five (5) years of experience in Wyoming in education; (ii) The chairman of the state board of education, or the chairman's designee; (iii) Three (3) members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate; (iv) The dean of the University of Wyoming's college of education, or his designee. (c) Each member appointed shall represent the public interest and satisfy all of the following requirements: (i) Be a resident of the state; (ii) Possess experience and expertise in public or nonprofit governance, management and finance, public school leadership, assessment, curriculum or instruction or public education law. (d) Of the initial members appointed to the board, the members appointed under paragraph (b)(i) of this section shall serve two (2) year terms and the members appointed under paragraph (b)(iii) of this section shall serve four (4) year terms. Thereafter, all appointments shall be for four (4) year terms. The initial appointments shall be made not later than July 1, 2023. (e) Members appointed to the board under paragraph (b)(i) of this section may be removed by the superintendent of public instruction. Members appointed to the board by the governor under paragraph (b)(iii) of this section may be removed in accordance with W.S. 9-1-202. (f) Vacancies shall be appointed pursuant to subsection (b) of this section. (g) The board shall meet not less than two (2) times each year. (h) All appointed members of the board shall receive compensation, per diem and mileage for actual time spent in performance of their duties and traveling expenses while in attendance and going to and from board meetings in the same manner and amount as members of the Wyoming legislature. (j) Members shall be subject to the Ethics and Disclosure Act, W.S. 9-13-101 through 9-13-109. (k) Beginning on July 1, 2025 and notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Wyoming charter school authorizing board may authorize any number of charter schools in accordance with the requirements of this article.
‹ Prev All Wyoming sections Next ›
Lexace provides legal information, not legal advice, and no attorney–client relationship is created. Statute text is provided for general information and may not reflect the most recent amendments; verify against the official state code.